


Keep Talking or Stanley Explodes

by Rayli_Pines



Category: Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Video Game), The Stanley Parable
Genre: AU, Crossover, I really don't care, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes - Freeform, M/M, Other, TSP, it's legit just them working together to defuse a bomb, ktane, the stanley parable - Freeform, you can see the relationship as platonic or romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28307667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rayli_Pines/pseuds/Rayli_Pines
Summary: After another restart of the game, the Narrator and Stanley find themselves in a completely different game, with new roles to fulfill. Instead of a script, the Narrator has a Bomb Defusal Manual. Instead of walking around in the story, Stanley gets to do puzzles and defuse a bomb with the Narrator's help. Neither are very happy about this.
Relationships: Stanarrator, Starrator, The Narrator & Stanley (The Stanley Parable), The Narrator/Stanley (The Stanley Parable)
Kudos: 13





	Keep Talking or Stanley Explodes

The Narrator sighs. Another useless reset of the game. He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, rifling through the papers scattered on his table to find the beginning script. 

Minutes pass and he still can’t find it.

“Damn, where the hell is that bloody thing?” he grumbles, finally looking up from the mess on his desk and redirecting his attention to his main monitor where Stanley would usually be visible. 

Emphasis on usually.

This time, there was nothing on the screen. It was just… a completely black void. Nothing was there. 

Confused, the Narrator turns on his mic and speaks into it like normal.

“Stanley? Stanley, are you there?” he asks. Nothing on his monitor moves. Everything’s the same. He tries to ignore the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach and calls out again. “Stanley, are you okay? Where are you?”

Again, there’s no response. Something is off.

“Did… did the game crash?” The question isn't directed at anyone but himself.

Returning his attention to finding his starting script, he looks at his desk to see… around 20 pages of some kind of manual, all stapled together by the pages’ corners. Okay, this is getting incredibly weird. Curious, the Narrator picks up the manual and adjusts his glasses to read the title.

“‘Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes’…?” he mutters, “‘Bomb Defusal Manual’? Why is this here? This isn’t part of my game…”

Unbeknownst to the Narrator as he flips through the manual, Stanley is sitting in an entirely new-looking office, worried as to why a blue paper-binder was sitting in front of him with the word ‘BOMBS’ printed on it in large letters. What’s even more worrying is that the Narrator hasn’t said a word since the reset. Did the game break?

After a few minutes of waiting in silence, he cautiously runs the palm of his hand over the cover of the binder. Confirming it isn’t going to immediately explode on touch, he picks it up and opens it, squinting to make sure he’s reading the words right.

‘The First Bomb’, the beginning line reads. As soon as he brushes his fingers over the print, he’s teleported into a dark room.

As this happens, the Narrator finishes reading the manual, the subtle panic in his stomach now a pounding feeling in his chest as he finally registers the situation. Stanley is stuck in a room with a bomb set to explode in a few minutes and the Narrator has to help him defuse it. 

Why does it have to be the Narrator? He insists to himself that he is the worst person to be chosen as the ‘bomb expert’, quote the manual. Morse code? Wires? Mazes? Secret passwords? No no, he can’t do it, no doubt. 

But… if he doesn’t do it, Stanley might get blown to bits. He can’t let that happen. Who knows if this game has a respawn option or not? 

The thought terrifies him. 

Suddenly, the monitor clicks on, and he sees Stanley sitting in a dark room, a box on the table in front of him. The box must be the bomb. The camera view is angled so that the Narrator cannot see what the bomb’s puzzles look like.

“Stanley? Stanley, can you hear me?” he asks, the shakiness in his voice clear. He internally curses at himself for sounding so afraid.

“Narrator?” Stanley calls out, shocked. “Yes, I can.” He pauses. “Did you set this up?”

“What?!” the Narrator exclaims, the slightest bit of indignance seeping into his tone. “Of course not! I’m rather confused as to how all of this happened myself…”

Suddenly, the lights turn on in the room Stanley is in and he squints at the unexpected brightness. However, he decides to ignore the discomfort in his eyes and instead starts to panic at the beeping box in front of him.

“Uh, Narrator?” Stanley asks anxiously, “Is it stupid to think that this might be a bomb?”

“No, Stanley, you’re very correct to think that.” The Narrator frowns and swallows the nervous lump in his throat. “Alright, stay calm, Stanley. I’ll help you defuse the bomb. How much time does it say we have?”

Stanley picks up the box and looks at the beeping red numbers present on a screen embedded into the bomb’s surface. It reads ‘5:00’ and is counting down from that. “I think we have five minutes.”

“Then we’d better get started,” the Narrator gives a ghost of a smile as he flips to the first page on his manual. “Are there any wires?”

**Author's Note:**

> i'm aware that this fic is really short and not very great. i've just been playing a lot of ktane lately and thought a crossover of ktane and tsp would be cool. also, please don't yell at me for leaving this on a slightly ambiguous ending, i didn't know how to proceed with writing a bomb defusal scene.  
> nonetheless, i hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
